Saturday, August 22, 2020

HOAX

 


Hoax


PLEASE READ About The Book
The urgent and untold story of the collusion between Fox News and Donald Trump from the New York Times bestselling author of Top of the Morning.
While other leaders were marshaling resources to combat the greatest pandemic in modern history, President Donald Trump was watching TV. Trump watches over six hours of Fox News a day, a habit his staff refers to as “executive time.” In January 2020, when Fox News began to downplay COVID-19, the President was quick to agree. In March, as the deadly virus spiraled out of control, Sean Hannity mocked “coronavirus hysteria” as a “new hoax” from the left. Millions of Americans took Hannity and Trump's words as truth—until some of them started to get sick.
In Hoax, CNN anchor and chief media correspondent Brian Stelter tells the twisted story of the relationship between Donald Trump and Fox News. From the moment Trump glided down the golden escalator to announce his candidacy in the 2016 presidential election to his acquittal on two articles of impeachment in early 2020, Fox hosts spread his lies and smeared his enemies. Over the course of two years, Stelter spoke with over 250 current and former Fox insiders in an effort to understand the inner workings of Rupert Murdoch's multibillion-dollar media empire. Some of the confessions are alarming. “We don't really believe all this stuff,” a producer says. “We just tell other people to believe it.”
At the center of the story lies Sean Hannity, a college dropout who, following the death of Fox News mastermind Roger Ailes, reigns supreme at the network that pays him $30 million a year. Stelter describes the raging tensions inside Fox between the Trump loyalists and the few remaining journalists. He reveals why former chief news anchor Shep Smith resigned in disgust in 2019; why a former anchor said “if I stay here I’ll get cancer;” and how Trump has exploited the leadership vacuum at the top to effectively seize control of the network.
Including never before reported details, Hoax exposes the media personalities who, though morally bankrupt, profit outrageously by promoting the President’s propaganda and radicalizing the American right. It is a book for anyone who reads the news and wonders: How did this happen?





Image may contain: text that says 'Did Trump Fire the US Pandemic Response Team? The Trump administration fired the U.S. pandemic response team in 2018 to cut costs. TRUE 'People are really surprised I understand this stuff' -3/6/20'


I believe Mary overlooked including this little tidbit in her book...................................

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"He's Got Bone Spurs" a Roy Zimmerman song parody

 






"They're Not Needed, Sir": DeJoy Tells Senate He Has No Intention of Returning Mail Sorting Machines

 






MCSALLY: ANOTHER CLOWN! 

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President Trump reacted Aug. 20 to a ruling by a federal judge against his latest attempt to shield his tax records from the Manhattan district attorney.
Trump says ruling on tax records is part of 'the greatest witch hunt in history'
August 20, 2020
"A federal judge has rejected President Donald Trump’s attempt to quash a subpoena for his tax returns as part of an investigation into hush payments to women who alleged affairs, which Trump long has denied.
The Manhattan District Attorney's Office had subpoenaed Trump's accounting firm, Mazars, for eight years worth of the president's personal and business tax returns.
The investigation is looking into bank and tax fraud, according to previous court filings.
Trump had argued he had immunity against the subpoena, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that he was not immune from state criminal investigations."
Trump loses court ruling to quash subpoena for tax records
AARON KATERSKY August 21, 2020




Image may contain: text that says '"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot" Mark Twain'


tRump's postmaster Louis DeJoy (opposite of EnJoy), seemed as nervous as a rat in a trap; and - he also appeared to be lying like a dirty wet rug on a greasy marble floor!
His usual slick sanguine smiling self-assured composure was GONE! He kept repeating things (words, phrases, etc.), he kept looking away, moving his eyes (and head position) around almost wildly, stammering sometimes, rather long pauses, some tearing up, always claiming 100% innocence, making very frequent digressions and then creating digressions within his digressions! His breathing seemed labored and irregular. His “ums” and “uhs” were incalculable!!

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/21/theyre-not-needed-sir-dejoy-tells-senate-he-has-no-intention-returning-mail-sorting?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR0x7lyO4OBpHfAcH6gDzcUYdllXSuRBqXgYdikxtp8U1fx0pldq4JoHwWo



POGO: USPS under the microscope

 

POGO Weekly Spotlight

August 22, 2020

Last week, we warned you that the Postal Service’s ability to manage mail-in ballots this fall is under threat, and that comments from President Donald Trump suggested changes in mail service might be politically motivated. Outcry over these changes prompted Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to announce that the Postal Service would roll back some changes that could impact mail delivery ahead of the election.

 

Yet several reports indicate that the Postal Service will not reverse all policies contributing to mail delays. USPS confirmed it will not reverse a new policy that resulted in mail carriers leaving mail behind for the next day and told maintenance managers not to reinstall mail sorting machines that had already been removed. On top of that, USPS recently barred clerks from serving as mail-in ballot witnesses.

 

Given all this, we’re still deeply concerned about the management of the Postal Service in the lead-up to the election and politicization of the post office. On Thursday, we filed a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel, requesting an investigation into whether DeJoy and other officials violated the Hatch Act by attempting to interfere in or sway the election. We also spoke to a former member of the Postal Regulatory Commission about the latest controversy surrounding USPS.

 

DeJoy appeared in a Senate hearing yesterday, where he committed to expediting election mail and continuing overtime for postal workers, and will testify in the House on Monday. We’ll continue to monitor the situation.

 

We’re following another executive branch move, though this one has flown a bit under the radar. The Office of Management and Budget has put in place a new policy requiring political appointees to sign off on decisions about the disbursement of funds appropriated by Congress. Through the Power of the Purse Coalition, of which we are co-founders, we condemned the move, which, paired with the administration’s increased secrecy about these decisions, further erodes Congress’ power over the federal budget.

Postal Service logo

LETTER

Hatch Act Complaint Against Postmaster General Louis DeJoy

POGO asked the Office of Special Counsel to investigate whether Postmaster General Louis DeJoy or other federal officials violated the Hatch Act by enacting changes in mail delivery service.

Read More
Ruth Goldway

ANALYSIS

The Postal Service and the Election: Q&A with a Former Postal Regulator

For an expert view on USPS changes that could impact the delivery of mail-in ballots, POGO turned to former Postal Regulatory Commission member Ruth Goldway.

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security cameras

TESTIMONY

Testimony in Support of Increased Transparency and Reform of FISA Surveillance

Recent, limited reforms to increase transparency have been insufficient to answer critical questions concerning how much and in what ways FISA surveillance impacts individuals.

Read More
Mandy Smithberger

ICYMI: PANEL DISCUSSION

Everything on the Table: The Case for Rethinking the Pentagon Budget

POGO's Mandy Smithberger participated in a panel discussion about waste in the Pentagon budget and the extent to which defense spending is actually making us safer.

Watch
courtroom

SPECIAL EVENT

Calling All Law Students: Emergency Moot Court Competition

The Constitution Project at POGO will host its first-ever emergency moot court competition, through which participants will be given a problem that mimics the kind of real-world scenario that would require immediate redress for conduct by the federal government and an emergency petition for relief before a federal district court. Registration is open through September 16, 2020.

Register

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“The fact that [Louis DeJoy] was a clear political donor to the president raises the question: who is he working for? ... He has clear political leanings that favors this administration, which raises questions. Why was he appointed in the first place?”

Tim Stretton, Policy Analyst, on NPR

ONE LINERS

“I realize there was a premium on getting the money out quickly, but modern banking technology surely could have done far better than it did.”

Danielle Brian, Executive Director, in Business Insider

 

“I’m sitting here in amazement. After 26 years in law enforcement, I've never seen anything with this level of sophistication. It literally sounds like a Hollywood movie.”

Wayne McElrath, Senior Investigative Adviser, in the Daily Beast

 

“If something falls into a gray zone, I recommend people seek OSC's Hatch Act advice before assuming something is either okay or a violation.”

Nick Schwellenbach, Senior Investigator, in Government Executive

 

“The well-banked, the well-lawyered and the politically well-connected did benefit from this program in a way that absolutely undermined the effectiveness of this program for those smaller businesses.”

Liz Hempowicz, Director of Public Policy, in the New York Post

 

“Just giving (the Pentagon) a blank check and not challenging them on how that money is going to be spent won’t make us safer.”

Mandy Smithberger, Director of the Center for Defense Information at POGO, in the Washington Times

 

“You'd almost think would be the other way around: the larger, more leveraged banks are able to take on this risk rather than the small ones.”

Tim Stretton, Policy Analyst, in American Banker

 

“Using people’s data is not expressive, and even if it is, courts have long treated commercial speech differently than other types of speech.”

Jake Laperruque, Senior Counsel with The Constitution Project at POGO, in World Magazine

 

“The overwhelming reason why people don’t use dissent channels, according to the people we’ve talked to, is they don’t think it would make a difference.”

Nick Schwellenbach, Senior Investigator, in Federal News Network


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The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is a nonpartisan independent watchdog that investigates and exposes waste, corruption, abuse of power, and when the government fails to serve the public or silences those who report wrongdoing. We champion reforms to achieve a more effective, ethical, and accountable federal government that safeguards constitutional principles. 

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SUSAN COLLINS, LOUIS DEJOY, GEORGE CONWAY

 

" "As it turns out, Collins is actually one of the members of Congress most responsible for the Postal Service’s devastation. Long before DeJoy started manipulating the USPS, Collins was at the forefront of a bill that crippled the agency’s finances.
In 2005, she sponsored and introduced legislation, the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA), that required the USPS to pre-pay the next 50 years worth of health and retirement benefits for all of its employees—a rule that no other federal agency must follow. As chair of the Senate oversight panel at the time, she shepherded the bill’s passage, along with her House GOP counterpart Tom Davis, during a lame-duck session of Congress. It passed by a voice vote without any objections—a maneuver that gave members little time to consider what they were doing."





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